BY DANI TIETZ
dani@mahometnews.com
The whole universe has been a story.
Humans, at least, have told stories along the way to try to make sense of it.
At first, without a written word, stories were passed from generation to generation through an oral tradition.
Then, with technological advances, such as marks on stones, ink in pens, a printing press and now word processors that make capturing the written word pretty seamless, those oral traditions can be captured in print to be read and shared as the desire demands.
For some, the practice of storytelling is commercial. For others, it’s sacred.
When Dr. David Webb began telling his daughters stories over four decades ago, it was a scared time.
Working long hours throughout the day, he came home in the evening hours and intentionally spent one-on-one time with each of the four girls before they went to bed.
“Every time I put them to bed, I would tell them two stories: one sort of a made-up story, and the other a Bible story. And then we would have a time where we could just talk,” Webb said.
“It was time that they knew was safe time. They could say anything and there will never be any judgment or anything like that. It became a very special intimate time.”
When the girls left home to study in college, he did not want to lose the time that they spent together all those years. He committed to writing each of them a letter every week.
“In fact, I’m still writing those letters and it’s been a long time,” Webb said.
The first part of the letter is news about Webb’s day-to-day life, then he spends time connecting with them where they are.
“If I know that they’re going through some things, I try to help them and work with them and just be a dad, just be a good dad to them,” Webb said.
The second part of the letter includes an analysis of scripture.
“We started with Proverbs,” he said. “I think that’s a really good directive for how to live life.”
One daughter, Christine Henrichs, compiled the letters her father had written to her after she graduated from medical school and released them as “Wisdom of Life.”
As Webb’s daughters grew and became mothers, Webb knew that he wanted to continue the tradition of storytelling with his now 13 grandchildren, six of whom live in Mahomet and the other seven who live between one-and-a-half to four hours away.
Webb’s stories focus around two young children, a boy and girl, who are growing up in Maine with their father after their mother died from childbirth. As the boy and girl navigate the coast, they meet Cozy McIntosh, who turns out to be their grandfather.
Maine has always been a special place for the Webb family.
David and his wife, Judy , spent their honeymoon there, and the family vacationed in Maine.
“One of the stories takes place on a lobstering island in a captain’s house that reflects the time we spent two weeks in a captain’s house on Little Cranberry Island in Maine,” Webb said.
“All these stories link with my life.”
Over the years, as the grandchildren have grown, Webb has weaved the web of Cozy McIntosh and the children’s lives to help his loved ones understand or process through what has happened in their lives.
“These stories might speak to them in a way that wouldn’t be spoken to otherwise,” Webb said.
In a world where children can ask for a lot of things, during their time with their grandfather, they asked for the Cozy stories.
“It’s amazing that even now when the grandchildren stay at our house we will go up to bed and tell stories. I tell a Bible story first and then say, “’What story would you like to hear?’
‘We want to hear cozy McIntosh stores.’ They love this family.”
Webb said the children transform as he tells the stories.
“Their eyes get wide and you can hear a pin drop,” he said. “It’s so amazing how mesmerized they are with these people coming to life and words.”
Webb said that it is because the stories bring out intimate feedback.
“There’s no pictures and there’s no pazzazz; it’s just words,” he said. “They love this family and they love what this family is trying to be because it connects with where they’re being.
“They will say things that you would never expect them to say, or ask questions that you have never expected to them to ask or say things that they would never tell you in any other situation.
“Somehow it releases and makes it feel safe, for them to be real, and to know that they share something and have no judgment.”
Webb said that’s what he found with his daughters all those years ago, and why he continues to be in love with telling stories, particularly at bedtime.
His daughters encouraged him to write the stories down for his grandchildren and the public to experience time and time again.
Webb released the first book in a three-book series titled, “Rescue at the Dock”, last week.
With original artwork, Webb will release the second and third books, which grow with the children until they reach the end of high school in the months to come.
Webb said that as the children get older, so do the topics covered through the stories. In Book 2, a young girl named Matilda comes to the Oyster Bay Community where she is picked on because of her disability. Befriended by Violet, one of the main characters, the girls learn how to relate to one another.
While the books do not quote or reference the biblical stories Webb tells his grandchildren, there are undertones of Christian values, such as sacrificial love.
Webb has also taken some of those lessons into “Letters to David“, which he released last week.
At 73, Webb looks back on his life to offer advice to his younger self.
“I think I would have lived life with a little more intention or proactively,” he said.
The collection of 33 letters range from subjects of how to deal with the Sabbath to racial discrimination, how to regard women or how to pick a spouse.
“I love that and I want young men to understand that,” he said.
Webb is hosting a series on the first and third Saturday of the month at The Open Room in Mahomet from 7 to 8:30 a.m., beginning Nov. 2, so that men can gather and reflect on the contents of the letters.
Each piece starts with Scripture, then the letter followed by questions to prompt the reader to reflect.
“In these books, much of my ‘wisdom’ for myself is built upon a standard that comes out of biblical truth,” he said.
Webb said that readers of the book should begin with the introduction before moving forward, though. He said that the letters are not a way to persuade people to agree with him, but rather a catalyst to help them think about how to approach situations in their own life.
“My intent is to help you think about the subject,” he said. “The issue becomes your own, your own understanding in your own proactive way.
“When you’re 30, 40, 50, whatever age you are, it’s you need to address this issue and become really intent about how you’re going to do it.”
“In fact, I would say probably 50-percent of the readers who read my letter will say, ‘I don’t fully agree with that, but it’s making me think of how I would deal with that subject.’
“I don’t want them to agree with me, but I want them to see things from a different perspective.”
Looking back, Webb believes that examples of giving to the needy or the underprivileged may have influenced his life in his younger years.
“I did a very poor job of that,” he said. “That’s one. I think I did a very poor job of giving to the poor and people in need.
“I wasn’t aware of the need and I didn’t know how to do that; I hadn’t been taught. Therefore, I didn’t teach my children to do that.”
As a Christian, Webb now sees that he is called to serve those who are less fortunate from a Biblical perspective. He believes, maybe, there is someone out there who needs to read that story.
His wife, who types the stories and letters for him, learned a lot about Webb through the process.
“I’m very honest about my family of origin, about some of the things that I look back on and wish I would have done differently with my mom and dad or my brother,” he said.
“It’s a very honest and intimate book and people will know a lot about me when they read it.”
Webb hopes that the Saturday morning discussions will encourage men to be what they were intended to be.
“Part of what’s wrong with the world is I think men have failed the men,” he said. “We need men to stand in the gap for God in the community to be men of integrity.
“I want this to be a chance for men to become men of integrity, Godly men who will take care of their family, take care of the community, take care of the business of making this world a better world.”
It is not only through writing the books and making connections within his family and community that Webb is trying to make the world a better place.
Proceeds from the “Bedtime Stories of Cozy McIntosh and his seaside village” series will be donated to AIC Kapchesewes Children’s Home in Kenya. Webb will also match the amount raised.
The gift will go towards the daily challenges of the home including pay for staff, exam fees, electrical bills and nutritional food.
Founded in 1984, the AIC Kapchesewes Children’s Home provides social care, education and spiritual nourishment to abandoned and abused orphans that live there.
The “Cozy Stories” can be purchased at Mahomet IGA, the Open Room or through Webb’s website at davidkwebb.com or by emailing dkwbook@gmail.com.
He also has a book signing scheduled at Mahomet IGA on Nov. 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Books will be available at that time, too.
Webb still practices family medicine at Carle in Mahomet.
